Potato problem

[iainhawk]

Does anyone have any idea about what is causing this in these potatoes?

The grew well for about 3 weeks before the leaves started curling up. I have checked for aphids and other pests but there is nothing on these plants. There is no sign of blight or rotting.

any ideas?



It has affected 2 beds on one plot. The rest of the plots on my allotment site have beds full of potatoes that are close to 3 foot tall now- and growing strongly.

[leona]

i cant help but an allotment i went to yesterday had quite a few plants like that and they thought it might be down to the cold wind we had.

[Lesley Jay]

There is leaf roll virus where the leaves roll upward and become hard and brittle. Affected plants are stunted and the yields are poor.

[iainhawk]

Thanks for the ideas. I have had a look at Leaf roll virus. It tends to be accompanied by yellowing and browning leaves, and the leaves roll up from the sides, not from the ends as in the spuds in my picture....so i dont think it is that

see this pic:

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...lr%3D%26sa%3DN


but it could just be that it appears different in different potato varieties.

The potatoes in my picture have been this way for about 4 weeks now with no change, no deterioration as is suggested with leaf roll virus. They dont seem to be growing much at all. The leaves are not brittle either, they can be uncurled with care and there is never anything inside the rolled up leaf.


any other ideas?

i guess the best thing is to burn the lot and start again?

[iainhawk]

"i cant help but an allotment i went to yesterday had quite a few plants like that and they thought it might be down to the cold wind we had."

Thanks for the reply Leona.

i thought that at first, but all of the other spuds on the allotment are fine- very strong and vigourous plants- and they were not planted at different times- pretty much all of us planted them on the same weekend...

[Lesley Jay]

Iain take a look at a site posted by Linda in Vegging Out it is full of potato photos and your problem looks as if it could be calcium deficiency. The thread is A Potato Query and you want reply #4.

[iainhawk]

Lesley

that looks like it could be it! great, now at least i know what it is.

cheers